Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Karl Rove and Captain Ahab-Conyers

O'Reilly offers Rove place to hide from subpoena

copyright © 2009 Betsy L. Angert.  BeThink.org

"The Architect," has apparently turned author.  Americans learned of Karl Rove's newest career on January 28, 2009.  During an interview with Fox News Broadcaster, Bill O'Reilly, the long-time Advisor to former President, George W. Bush, presented his novel manuscript to an expectant audience.  Most tuned in to hear whether he would honor a Congressional subpoena.  Few expected a reinterpretation of the epic fable, Moby Dick.  Yet, there it was, a drama delivered.

In this newer version, Congressman John Conyers is cast in the role of the antagonist.  The Chair of the Judiciary Committee plays the part of Captain Ahab.  Mister Rove sees himself as the lovable whale.  Moby-Karl seeks only to defend himself against obsessive attacks from the maniacal Ahab-Conyers.  Whilst the massive mammal quietly glides through calm seas, a fanatical Captain Ahab-Conyers follows.  Captain Ahab's anger and aggressive temperament stirs the waters.  The Chair of the Judiciary Committee creates waves.  Moby-Karl merely moves along.  He bothers no one, and wishes to go about his business, nothing more.

Fascinated, Americans listen to Karl Rove spin his yarn.  The writer tells a tale of himself and his nemesis.  The two, Mister Rove explains, have been embroiled in a battle for years.

Sailor Ahab-Conyers, envisions Moby-Karl as a giant marine mammal, fierce, and bent on destruction.  He notes Moby-Karl had successfully designed another of his divisive campaigns.  

Captain Ahab-Conyers is certain, no one has been able to capture, let alone kill, the massive beast.  However, Skipper-Conyers hopes to change that truth.  He will slaughter the slippery creature.  He will do so legally, with a summons.  The sea Commander Ahab-Conyers, wishes to commence with a Congressional investigation.  It seems clear to him, Moby-Karl will use his political influence to alter the composition of the Justice Department.  

Moby-Karl observes the Congressman-Captain is obsessed.  The massive mammal knows not why.  Captain Ahab-Conyers' only objective is vengeance.  Moby-Karl claims the sailor is determined to do the innocent Cetacea in.

As the dramatist explains, the two had a chance encounter long ago.  Then, the largest ocean creature, Moby-Karl, smashed Conyers-Ahab's boat.  He was under attack.  Certainly, anyone would understand, he could do nothing but fight for his life.  The alleged "monster" bit the implacable Captain.  Conyers-Ahab lost his leg in the scuffle.  

It was all "innocent" Moby-Karl cries out.  What could he do when confronted with the delusional assailant, Conyers-Ahab?  The Cetacea was defenseless.  The sea Commander had an arsenal of weaponry and a crew.  Members of Congress offered manual assistance and moral support.  The playwright Rove poses; Moby-Karl only had his own inherent compass to guide him, at least that was how Author Herman Melville presented the story in his script.

In this newer version, Moby-Karl has a capable team too.  The whale has a wily swarm of legal eagles to assist him in any battle.  On the air, the mammoth marine mammal revealed the reality within the newer narrative. 

Just four days before he left office, President Bush instructed former White House aide Karl Rove to refuse to cooperate with future congressional inquiries into alleged misconduct during his administration.

On Jan. 16, 2009, then White House Counsel Fred Fielding sent a letter (.pdf) to Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin.  The message: should his client receive any future subpoenas, Rove "should not appear before Congress" or turn over any documents relating to his time in the White House.  The letter told Rove that President Bush was continuing to assert executive privilege over any testimony by Rove-even after he leaves office.


The plot thickens.  In this story, the gentle giant Moby-Karl will not be the cause of Captain Ahab-Conyers demise.  Self-destructive tendencies will not determine the fate of a fixated Judicial Committee Chair.  If he fails in his quest, Chairman Ahab-Conyers will not have only himself to blame.  The onus will be one he shares with a slew of shrewd attorneys who found their way around earlier edicts such as the one offered In September 2008.

United States District Judge John Bates ruled, "The Executive cannot identify a single judicial opinion that recognizes absolute immunity for senior presidential advisors in this or any other context," inscribed Bates, a Bush appointee. "In fact, there is Supreme Court authority that is all but conclusive on this question and that powerfully suggests that such advisors do not enjoy absolute immunity."

Judge Bates, who may be cast as the Ishmael character in Rove's yarn, rejected the notion President Bush put forward.  The arbitrator ruled blanket executive privileges are not possible.  Perhaps, Mister Rove, did not consider this character when he re-wrote Herman Melville's work.  In the revised text, it seems "The Architect" omitted the Judge's recent decision .  

In his manuscript, Romanticist Rove chose to reflect on rhetoric that is more hopeful.  He recalls the original plot.  The blameless Moby Dick survived.  No number of sailors, recruited to assist Captain Ahab, helped him bring down a beast who hurt others only in defense of himself.  Writer, Karl Rove draws on the analogy.  He muses Legislators who support Conyers will not be able to carry out the Chairman's plan.  

This modern-day whale has defenders unlike any the Melville Cetacea could conceive of.  Moby-Karl Rove has a lawyer, Robert Luskin.  The legal representative has helped to expand the legend.  He was able to secure a stay of execution.   A letter penned by Lawyer Ruskin convinced Captain, Chairman Conyers to postpone a response to the subpoena issued by the Judiciary Committee.

Thus, once more Captain Ahab-Conyers, and the American people are left to ask.  Is justice delayed also justice denied?

No one knows for sure.  The people cannot be sure at this point in the plot.  Did Karl Rove cast the curious character, Barack Obama?  Could the Author, Rove, the re-writer of history, make provisions for the majesty of a man not included in Melville's narrative.  Will Moby Dick again live on?  Might Karl Rove continue to exist with Executive Privileges, or, this time, will the sea creature fall victim to circumstances unforeseen?  Stay tuned for the sequel to this epic melodrama bought to you by "The Architect!"

References for an neo-conservative Romanticism novel . . . 

Feb 3, 2009 1:22:00 PM | Bush 43 Administration, Congress, Congress and Bush, Judiciary, Lawbreakers

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